This is HUGE news, and something we're bound to revisit again and again on the site. This from Vatican news:

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday declared a "Year of Faith" starting on October 11, 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vatican II Council which approved key Catholic Church reforms.

"I would like to announce that I have decided to decree a year of faith," the Pope said in his homily, addressing some 8,000 delegates taking part in a Vatican-hosted conference on evangelization at a mass in St Peter's Basilica.

He said it would give "a greater impulse to the mission of the entire Church to bring man out of the desert where he often finds himself, towards life and towards friendship with Christ who gives us this life in all its variety."

The year will start on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013.

"It will be a moment of grace and of engagement for an ever fuller movement towards God, to strengthen the faith in Him and to announce it with joy to modern man," said the Pope, who often emphasises the need for evangelization.

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A great move form the Holy Father here, and a great way to mark the anniversary of the Council. I'm sure it will have a great impact on youth ministry. All thoughts welcome...